(Bloomberg) -- Noah Lyles earned the title of the world’s fastest man by winning the Paris 2024 Olympics’ 100-meter sprint on Sunday. Now he has a message for Adidas AG.
“I want my own shoe, I want my own trainer, dead serious,” Lyles, who is sponsored by the German brand, said at a news conference after the race. Wearing Adidas spikes, he became the first American to clinch the gold medal in the prestigious event since Justin Gatlin in Athens 20 years ago.
“I want a sneaker, ain’t no money in spikes,” said the 27-year-old, who expressed disbelief that, despite the fame of past champions such as four-time gold medalist Michael Johnson, there hasn’t traditionally been a path for a sprinter to release a widely marketable shoe. Basketball stars from Michael Jordan to LeBron James, on the other hand, have a long history of releasing their own shoes.
“The Olympics are a wonderful showcase of innovation and performance, but they’re not necessarily a huge commercialization event” for companies like Adidas, said Monique Pollard, Citigroup Inc.’s head of European retail, internet and brands equity research.
A Noah Lyles shoe could “broaden the appeal” of Adidas’s running products, which already include racing shoes like the Adizero and the Pro Evo, she said. The sprinter’s request for a personalized shoe is a smart and novel idea, Pollard said, because it could appeal to a swath of runners.
Lyles “cemented his place at the top of the sport with his achievements in Paris, and further races still to come,” an Adidas spokesman said in an emailed statement. “We will continue to work together on how we support him both on and off the track.” Adidas has sponsored Lyles since 2016.
Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden said last month his brand “didn’t have the right product for a while” in comfortable running sneakers, where competitors include brands like Hoka, owned by Deckers Outdoor Corp., and On Holding AG. But now Adidas is represented in the category by models like the Adistar, Supernova and Ultraboost, he said.
“Our offering in running is very, very wide and deep and you will see us growing there in the future,” he said on a call with analysts on July 31 to discuss first-half earnings.
“I do actually believe that we have the right product, but of course, we don’t have the right distribution,” Gulden said.
Rebuilding or developing relationships with specialty running retailers will take time, but a product with very high sell-through, such as a Lyles sneaker, could certainly help those conversations, Pollard said.
“There’s money in sneakers,” Lyles said. “That needs to happen.”
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